Hearing Set On I-84 Plans

By Andrew Gorosko

Area residents will have an opportunity to comment on the long-planned widening of the 32-mile-long section of Interstate 84 between Exit 1 at New York State border and Exit 18 in Waterbury, when the state Department of Transportation (DOT) conducts public meetings on the project next week in Southbury and in Danbury.

The sessions, known as “public scoping meetings,” are slated for 7 pm, Monday, May 16, at Southbury Town Hall, 501 Main Street, and also at 7 pm, Tuesday, May 17, at Danbury City Hall, 155 Deer Hill Avenue.

The sessions are intended to field public comments for the preparation of an environmental impact statement on the planned highway-widening project and interchange improvement work.

“Improvements to this corridor are considered necessary in order to provide for increases in projected traffic volumes along this portion of I-84 in Connecticut,” according to DOT.

Current planning calls for the addition of one travel lane in each direction along the highway to alleviate mounting congestion. Interchanges along the highway also would be improved, as needed.

At the two sessions, DOT officials will describe the improvements planned for the highway.

It has taken longer than anticipated for DOT and a consulting firm to negotiate the scope of a planned environmental study on the effects of the road-widening project, which is a required part of the road construction planning process. Also, the DOT has encountered unanticipated delays in obtaining federal funds for the work.

The environmental impact study addresses topics including rights-of-way, wetlands, aquifers, water quality, plant and animal species, archaeology, history, air quality, and noise, among other subjects.

The I-84 widening project is intended to enhance traffic flow and improve travel safety. Much of the road widening would involve building travel lanes in what is now the highway median, instead of adding such lanes along the outer sides of the roadway, greatly reducing the need for property acquisition to widen the highway.

The road-widening project and the interchange improvements may be done as separate construction projects.

In 2000, DOT estimated that the proposed improvements along I-84 extending from the New York State border to Rochambeau Bridge at the Housatonic River would cost approximately $250 million to accomplish. The $250 million figure does not include spending for improving the section of I-84 lying between Rochambeau Bridge and Waterbury.

Jonathan Chew, executive director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), said this week that a program as broad in scope as the I-84 widening and interchange improvement project entails complex, lengthy planning.

HVCEO is the regional planning agency. It is the intermediary for transportation planning between its ten member towns and the state and the federal governments.

DOT officials have said that, optimistically, the I-84 improvement project may start construction by 2010, and would take at least five years’ of construction to accomplish. In the past, DOT officials have said the highway project may be completed by 2020.

Newtown Interchanges

Newtown has three interchanges on I-84 — Exit 9 at Route 25, Exit 10 at Route 6, and Exit 11 at Route 34. The DOT has identified how the three interchanges may be improved.

The Exit 9 interchange in Hawleyville has geometric deficiencies that need to be corrected. The layout of the on-ramps and off-ramps, especially for the westbound lanes, is not what would be designed today for current traffic volumes. Traffic planners are considering various reconfigurations of the interchange that would make for safer, more efficient traffic flow. Improvements may include installing traffic signals on the nearby Hawleyville Road to control traffic flow at the ends of interchange ramps.

The Exit 10 interchange and the adjacent Church Hill Road is a high-accident area. By today’s highway design standards, the Exit 10 on-ramps and off-ramps are deficient. Traffic planners are considering “softening” the geometry of the ramps to provide better vehicle acceleration and braking in the area, as well as adding some traffic signals in the area.

The Exit 11 interchange was constructed as a link between I-84 and a Route 25 expressway. The Route 25 expressway, however, was never built. Traffic planners propose simplifying the sweeping Exit 11 interchange to improve area traffic flow. Interchange redesign proposals focus on reducing traffic congestion on nearby roads. The DOT’s basic design work for that interchange project has begun.